VILLA’S alarming slump in form has been reflected by Fabio Capello’s decision to pick only two of Martin O’Neill’s men for the England friendly against Slovakia on Saturday.

The form of both Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor has dipped considerably as Villa have slid out of the battle for a Champions League slot.

Both men were involved in the defeat by Euro 2008 winners Spain last month but now find themselves excluded, along with James Milner and Luke Young.

Only Gareth Barry and Emile Heskey have been included in the squad.

Meanwhile, almost two years after becoming the most expensive defender in Everton’s history, Leighton Baines has finally been picked for England.

Baines’ call-up for Saturday’s game and the far more important World Cup qualifier against the Ukraine at Wembley on April 1 is testament to his defiance and refusal to accept he was not going to make it at Goodison Park.

It is only really in a current 16-game unbroken run in David Moyes’ side that the 24-year-old has begun to show the form that made him such a pivotal figure in Wigan’s rise to the Premier League and took him to Merseyside for £6m in the summer of 2007.

And his well-taken goal at Portsmouth on Saturday, coupled with Wayne Bridge’s absence with a hamstring injury, have turned him into Fabio Capello’s cover for first-choice left-back Ashley Cole.

If Baines had been tipped to earn his first step into the senior England ranks, Tottenham’s Ledley King will be the real surprise face when Capello’s party meets up in Watford later this evening.

King has a debilitating problem in his right knee that prevents him from doing any sessions with his Spurs team-mates during the week.

The only contact he has with them is on the day before a game when King watches training to learn the moves he will be part of 24 hours later.